Anchor for zipper handle

ABSTRACT

A zipper construction in which the slider is provided with a spring clip structure that retains the operating handle for the slider in a longitudinally extending position above the slider with a pull line attached to the handle by which the slider may be moved vertically to open and close the zipper. The handle on the zipper slider in its upwardly extending position overlying and concealing the top edge of an opening in a garment such as an opening in the neckline of a dress or similar garment thereby concealing the open edges of the neckline and eliminating the necessity of providing a hook and eye or other similar fastener assembly to close the upper edge of an opening in a garment such as presently employed in conventional garment construction.

Unite States Patent Cirone Aug. 28, 1973 ANCHOR FOR ZIPPER HANDLE 586,729 10/1934 Germany 24/2os.14 R

[76] inventor: Joseph Clrone, 41 Maxwell St.,

Jersey City, NJ. 07302 Primary Examiner-Bemnrd A. Gelak Attorney-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey Br [22] F1led: Aug. 4, 1971 Jacobson 21 Appl. No; 168,842

[57] ABSTRACT 52 s 24 2054; R 24 129515 H 2 2 5 L A zipper construction in which the slider is provided 511 Int. Cl. A44b 19/30, A44b 19/26 with a Spring clip Structure that retains the Operating 58 Field of Search 24/20s.14 R, 205.14 A, handle the Slider in a longitudinally endin posi- 2 205 L, 5 5 H tion above the slider with a pull line attached to the handle by which the slider may be moved vertically to 5 R f Cited open and close the zipper. The handle on the zipper UNITED STATES PATENTS slider in its upwardly extending position overlying and concealing the top edge of an opening in a garment 3 such as an opening in the neckline ofa dress or similar 2,299,846 10 1942 Poux 24/20s.1s H thereby f P edges Pf 83MB 121K939 Parker N 2411201 R neckline and eliminating the necessity of provldmg a 2,018,948 10 1935 Comer 24/20s.1s 11 book and y or other Similar fastener assembly to 2,262,188 11/1941 Marinsky 24/20s.14 A close the pp g of an p g in a garment Such 2,456,822 12/1948 Engel 24/205.15 H as presently employed in conventional garment con- FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS France 24/205.l5 H

struction.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 28, 1973 3,754,306

Fig.

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ANCHOR FOR ZIPPER HANDLE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The present invention generally relates to a garment fastener structure in the form of a zipper employing a slider and a pivotal operating handle therefor in which the slider is provided with spring clip elements at the upper edge thereof which retain the operating handle of the zipper in an upwardly extending position with a pull string or other equivalent pull device attached to the handle for enabling the zipper slider to be moved upwardly to a closed position by a person donning a garment thereby enabling this operation to be completed without assistance from another person even though the zipper closure for the garment may be located in the rear upper edge of the dress or similar garment.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various zipper constructions have been provided in which the slider automatically locks in position and in which pull devices are attached to the operating handle for the slider to facilitate manipulation thereof. While zipper structures have been incorporated in various garments including dresses and similar garments which have a vertical slit-like opening communicating with the neckline thereof, in order to install the zipper, the upper stops are disposed below the top edge of the opening in the neckline so that even when the zipper slider is completely closed or moved upwardly to its limit of movement, there is still a vertical space that remains unclosed. Usually, the top edge of the opening in the neckline is provided with a hook and eye or loop, snap fasteners or other fastener assemblies located above the zipper slider in order to completely close the neckline of the dress. Such devices are not only difficult to fasten but also frequently provide an unattractive appearance due to misalignment, bulkiness and the like.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a zipper construction in which the slider handle is provided with a flexible pull line or pull string by which the zipper may be easily closed by the person donning the garment with the flexible string then being disposed interiorly of the garment so that it will be substantially unnoticeable with the string being either flesh colored or colored the same color as the garment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a zipper structure in which the zipper slider is provided with upwardly extending spring clip members which resiliently engage the slider handle while retaining the slider handle in upwardly extending position so that it will cover and conceal the upper edge portion of the neckline of the garment thus eliminating the necessity of providing separate fasteners such as a hook and eye assembly. The outwardly exposed surface of the handle may be provided with suitable decorative indicia, ornamental jewels, stones or the like to further enhance the appearance of the slider thus enabling the slider to become an attractive component of the garment rather than a structure which is partially concealed and partially revealed thereby enhancing the appearance characteristics of the fastening construction for the garment open- A further object of the invention is to provide a zipper structure which is conventional insofar as the interlocking elements and action of the slider is concerned but with the slider modified to secure the operating handle for the slider in an upwardly extending position in relation to the slider so that it overlies the open portion of the garment disposed above the upper limit stops on a conventional zipper.

Another important feature of the present invention is to provide an anchor for zipper handles in accordance with the preceding objects which is relatively simple in construction, easy to install, does not effect normal operation of the zipper, attractive in appearance and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the rear of a dress type garment with the present invention incorporated therein.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the construction of FIG. 1 illustrating the relationship of the handle to the slider.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the construction of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse, vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4-4 of FIG. 1 illustrating further structural details of the slider with the anchor clips thereon and showing the relationship of the slider handle thereto.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now specifically to the drawings, the slider construction of the zipper of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and is illustrated in association with the upper back portion of a garment such as a dress 12 which has a neckline 14 provided with the usual vertically extending opening 16 that is closed by a conventional zipper construction 18 in which the interlocking components thereof are of conventional construction as well as the mounting tapes for the interlocking elements and the manner of installation of the zipper in the garment is conventional and forms no particular part of the present invention. A slider 20 is associated with the zipper to open and close the interlocking elements in a known manner with the zipper being so constructed that the slider 20 will be retained in any adjusted position. Normally, the slider 20 is moved upwardly to its upper limit of movement which is defined by a pair of limit stops provided at the upper end of the interlocking elements of the zipper thereby preventing the slider 20 from being removed from the upper end of the zipper. All of the previously descussed structure represents conventional zipper construction.

The slider 20 is provided with an operating handle 22 that is pivotally connected to the slider by a mounting structure 24 having an aperture 26 therethrough which pivotally receives the handle 22 in a conventional manner so that any time upward or downward vertical pressure is applied on the handle 22, the slider 20 will be released and moved longitudinally in relation to the zipper. The handle 22 is also provided with a loop 28 on the inner surface thereof and a decorative ornament 29 on the outer surface thereof.

Attached to the handle 22 is an elongated flexible line 30 which may be in the form of a string, wire member, plastic member or the like attached to the handle 22 by being tied through the loop 28 with the length of the line 30 being sufficient to enable a person donning the garment 12 to reach the flexible line 30 and pull upwardly thereon by extending either hand over the shoulder area thereby enabling the zipper to be closed without requiring the assistance of another person. After the zipper slider 20 has been moved upwardly to its upper limit, the string 30 is positioned inwardly of the garment as illustrated in FIG. 1 thus substantially concealing the flexible line 30 but enabling it to be used again when it is desired to open the zipper structure by moving the slider 20 downwardly in which event the flexible line 30 would be dropped downwardly on the exterior of the garment to an area adjacent the waist region of the wearer so that a person wearing the dress could grasp the flexible line by reaching around to the rear waist area after which downward movement of the slider 20 could be readily completed.

The flexible line 30 may be neutral colored, flesh colored or colored the same color or substantially the same color as the dress thereby rendering the flexible string substantially unnoticeable.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the handle 22 extends upwardly above the slider 20 and normally overlies the open upper end of the opening 16. This position of the handle 22 is maintained by a pair of upward side extensions 32 on the slider which has inwardly facing generally channel-shaped recesses 34 which define clips for resiliently and frictionally engaging the side edges of the handle 22 thereby retaining the handle 22 in the upwardly extending position. Thus, while the handle 22 is in the upright position during manipulation of the slider, it can be pivoted to a horizontal or a depending position if desired by pulling outwardly on the upper end thereof which will cause the resiliency of the extension 32 to enable the channels 34 to spread apart Sl.',fflcient to enable movement of the handle 22 in a pivotal manner. The clips 34 will also enable the handle 22 to move slightly vertically to release the lock mechanism for the zipper so that the zipper will automatically lock in the usual and conventional manner.

With this construction, the necessity of hook and eyes or other fasteners for the upper edge of the opening 16 in the garment 12 is eliminated inasmuch as this area will be covered by the handle 22 which may be attractively colored or which may be provided with decorative ornaments, jewels or the like on the exterior surface thereof so that the zipper slider handle, in effect will become a decorative ornament rather than a component which is usually concealed in relation to the garment thereby not only enhancing the appearance of the garment but also facilitating operation of the zipper when the garment is being donned or removed.

The structure of the slider 20 including the extensions 32 thereon may be of the same construction such as metal, plastic or the like having resilient characteristics to enable movement of the handle from the anchored position to any other desired position and also this construction enables the handle to be manufactured in a relatively inexpensive manner thereby maintaining the cost of a zipper construction substantially the same as a conventional zipper.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a zipper construction for closing a vertically disposed opening in the upper edge of a garment such as a neckline opening in the rear ofa dress, a slider having a handle pivotally mounted on the exterior surface thereof and generally centrally between the ends thereof with the handle having a length to extend above the upper edge of the slider and normally overlie the open upper end of the opening in the garment when in an upwardly extending position, a flexible pull member attached to said handle to enable a person donning and removing the garment to move the slider vertically to open and close the zipper, said slider including a pair of upward side extensions thereon, each side extension including an inwardly facing generally channel-shaped recess, said extensions being resilient in construction and defining spring clips for frictional and resilient engagement with intermediate portions of the side edges of the handle on the slider to secure the handle in vertically upwardly extending position so that the handle will overlie and substantially conceal the top edge of the opening in the garment thereby eliminating the necessity of employing separate fasteners such as a hook and eye or loop normally employed to secure the top edges of such an opening in closed condition.

2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said extensions are unitary with the slider and constructed of the same material and enabling longitudinal movement of the handle for releasing the automatic lock mechanism of the zipper slider, said handle including a rigid loop on the inner surface thereof and located above the slider when the handle is disposed in upwardly extending position, said pull member being in the form of a flexible string tied to the loop and extending downwardly interiorly of the garment when not in use, and a decorative member mounted on the outer surface of the handle to enhance the appearance characteristics thereof.

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1. In A zipper construction for closing a vertically disposed opening in the upper edge of a garment such as a neckline opening in the rear of a dress, a slider having a handle pivotally mounted on the exterior surface thereof and generally centrally between the ends thereof with the handle having a length to extend above the upper edge of the slider and normally overlie the open upper end of the opening in the garment when in an upwardly extending position, a flexible pull member attached to said handle to enable a person donning and removing the garment to move the slider vertically to open and close the zipper, said slider including a pair of upward side extensions thereon, each side extension including an inwardly facing generally channelshaped recess, said extensions being resilient in construction and defining spring clips for frictional and resilient engagement with intermediate portions of the side edges of the handle on the slider to secure the handle in vertically upwardly extending position so that the handle will overlie and substantially conceal the top edge of the opening in the garment thereby eliminating the necessity of employing separate fasteners such as a hook and eye or loop normally employed to secure the top edges of such an opening in closed condition.
 2. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said extensions are unitary with the slider and constructed of the same material and enabling longitudinal movement of the handle for releasing the automatic lock mechanism of the zipper slider, said handle including a rigid loop on the inner surface thereof and located above the slider when the handle is disposed in upwardly extending position, said pull member being in the form of a flexible string tied to the loop and extending downwardly interiorly of the garment when not in use, and a decorative member mounted on the outer surface of the handle to enhance the appearance characteristics thereof. 